How Do I Get College Credit For Doing My Internship

Internships are an essential part of gaining work experience for your future career or satisfying requirements for a qualification. An internship is a learning experience supervised by a schooled, working professional. 

However, some interns receive college credits and are equally compensated by their employers.

If you are wondering, “How do I get college credit for doing my internship?”, here’s all you need to know about getting credits from internships. 

How Many College Credit Can You Get With Internships? 

The amount of college credit you get from your internship depends on several factors. The number of credits you can earn or get with an internship depends on the college you are attending. Internships for credit usually grant one to six college credits or units for completing an internship.

The amount or number of credits an internship is worth also depends on the number of hours or effort you put into the internship. The standard time commitment is around ten hours every week throughout your internship and it grants you one to three college units. 

The amount of college units you can get is also determined by the value of your internship. Connect with your academic advisors or your career center to see the options you have and to determine the internships worth getting college credits for. 

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5 Steps On How To Get College Credit For Doing Your Internship

1. Talk To Your Faculty Dean

Usually, for an internship, you can get between one and six credit points. What this means is that you do not have to enroll in many formal classes and you will earn academic credits by doing an internship.

Speak to your faculty dean or a relevant class’s professor of your study field or faculty to find out whether you can do your internship in your media field while earning credits. If they give you a positive reply, ask them what the procedure would be.

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2. Search For The Companies That Will Assist You In Getting Credits

The next step is to check with the company you want to intern with to see if their program offers credits. On internship postings, it’s usually written whether or not the company offers credits.

While most unpaid positions offer college credits for their interns, paid positions may not offer credits but you may be able to switch financial compensation for college credit. So do not be afraid to ask. 

Also, you would have to coordinate with a faculty member that will sponsor or monitor your internship and the company where you would like to intern. Do well to fill out all the necessary registration and paperwork before beginning your internship.

3. Confirm That Your School Offers Credit For The Specific Internship

This is also very important; make sure that the specific training program you would like to do qualifies for credits at your university or college.

Some schools have certain requirements for companies offering internship training. When speaking to your faculty dean, do well to ask if the program you’re interested in qualifies for credits.

4. Find Out What Your Schools Requirements Are To Get Credits

Students have guidelines on how many hours they must participate throughout the semester for their internship and this depends on the university.

At the University of Connecticut for example students must intern 300 hours throughout the semester to receive one college credit unit. 

Make sure to find out from your school the requirements you need to meet to get credits. It could entail a certain number of hours worked, specific assignments or a work plan and your internship supervisor may have to verify that you’ve met all the criteria. 

Most times the school requires one or two evaluations to take place throughout your internship and the sponsoring manager would need to fill out the documents regarding the student’s performance and specifically detail the new skills acquired.

Be well aware of everything that is entailed before starting your internship to ensure that you have everything you need to earn college credits.

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5. Verify The Limitations And Rules

Before you begin with the training or internship you want to do, double-check to ensure that you know each rule and limitation involved.

Check to see if there’s a limit to the number of credits you can earn and find out the minimum amount of hours you need to spend working or training. 

While some internships are paid, some are unpaid and some even require an enrolment fee. Verify with your professor and the company you intend to intern for. Sort out all of these details properly to get the college credit you need. 

All that’s left to do now is to start packing your bags for your internship! 

Conclusion

There are so many benefits of doing an internship. It helps you gain job experience, builds your resume, helps you secure good references and recommendations, and also helps to guide career goals. But as a student doing an internship training, it’s a bonus for you if the company with which you train offers college credits.

Above, we have provided some key steps to guide you on how to get college credits for doing your internship. We hope this article has been of great help to you. Kindly share and leave your comments in the section below.